Scotland: Time and Place: When life was suite

Ross Kelly was happy to sleep on the settee until a room became free — as long as he could watch Dynasty

Do you know the opening scenes of the film Shallow Grave, where a prospective flatmate is being interviewed? That was almost me in the winter of 1982. Like the movie, the place I was about to move into was a grand Edinburgh New Town flat, with a huge hall and massive rooms with high ceilings. I’ve not lived in a place like it since. The only difference between me and Keith Allen — who plays Hugo, the new flatmate in Shallow Grave — is that I don’t suddenly die, leaving a fortune behind in a suitcase.

In truth, there was another difference, quite an important one. I was actually staying in the flat when the “auditions” were going on. I was kipping on the sofa, supposedly looking for a place to stay.

That summer, between my second and third years at Edinburgh University, I had been working in America. On my return